- Jacob Spori
Jacob Spori (1847-1903) was the first principal of the Bannock Stake Academy, an institution that would eventually become
Brigham Young University–Idaho .A native of
Switzerland , Spori was a high school principal and government officer in that country. He was also elected to the Reformed Church's Synod Council. He however resigned his seat due to disagreements with the leaders of that church. In 1877 he joinedThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In 1879 he immigrated to Utah. His wife, the former Magdalena Roschi, and children stayed in Switzerland because they had not joined the church. In 1884 Spori returned to Switserland as a missionary. He baptized his wife. However one week latter he set off to serve a mission in the theOttoman Empire . While there he baptizedMischa Markow . In 1886, he performed the first-ever Mormon baptism inPalestine .In 1888 Spori was released from his mission. He went to Switzerland and gathered his family. On going to the United States they settled in
Rexburg, Idaho . It was here that Spori served as principal of the school that eventually became Brigham Young University Idaho.Spori was a highly educated man who had degrees in "mathematics, arts and music, and metallurgy." [ [http://www.byui.edu/pr/thespiritofricks/ch1.htm Public Relations Office – BYU–Idaho ] ] . He was a friend of
Karl G. Maeser who instructed him on the desired set up for the new school atRexburg, Idaho .ee also
*
Joseph M. Tanner Notes
References
*Arnold K. Garr, Donald Q. Cannon and Richard O. Cowan, ed., "Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History". (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2000) p. 1175-1176.
*Denton Y. Brewerton, [http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=8540b4f40c9db010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 “Istanbul and Rexburg—Jacob Spori’s Mission Field,”] "Tambuli", Feb. 1981, 11
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